Drummond Officially On UConn Roster

Bradley Gives Up Scholarship

The UConn men's basketball program tied up the last of the loose ends and added Andre Drummond to its roster on Thursday.

Drummond, one of the top recruits in the country, will begin attending classes Friday.

The Huskies' current roster lists Drummond, from Middletown and St. Thomas More prep, as No. 15 — the jersey number worn by Kemba Walker during his remarkable career at UConn.

The school released a brief statement, saying, "Freshman Andre Drummond has been admitted to the University of Connecticut and is listed on the roster as a member of the men's basketball team."

UConn said neither coach Jim Calhoun nor any players would be available for comment until sometime after Labor Day.

Michael Bradley, who redshirted as a freshman, agreed to give up his scholarship and apply for financial aid, according to a school source, allowing UConn to fit Drummond in under their limit of 10 scholarships. Bradley remains on the roster. He qualifies for aid without counting against the scholarship limit because of his unique circumstances — he lived at the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home in Chattanooga for seven years

Bradley, 6 feet 10, has worked hard to build his body. He originally chose UConn for its School of Pharmacy.

Drummond, 6-11, rocked the college basketball world when he tweeted "it was official" that he was coming to Storrs. Earlier this summer, Drummond said he was leaning toward returning to St. Thomas More, then he announced he was going to play a postgraduate at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts. He was quickly ranked No. 1 among recruits for 2012.

UConn is limited to 10 scholarships, three short of the standard, losing one because of NCAA infractions and two because of a subpar Academics Progress Report score. Having renewed all of its scholarships by July 1, the program had none left for Drummond.

Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown and West Virginia were on his list, but UConn was clearly Drummond's school of choice, and when the basketball program and compliance staff discovered that a scholarship could be made available, he went for it. It took seven days after Drummond's tweet to get the details ironed out. Bradley had to agree to give up his scholarship and the numbers had to work. Drummond, who arrived on campus Monday to begin the paperwork, had to pass through the NCAA Clearinghouse to be certified to play, and his transcripts had to be obtained from St. Thomas More.

The university's new president, Susan Herbst, who has consistently listed compliance and academic improvement as her two top priorities, stressed that any move would comply with NCAA rules.

Now, with all those details complete, the Huskies can begin preparing for a season of sky-high expectations. Drummond joins the core of the national championship team, minus Walker. The cast includes Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier, Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith, Tyler Olander and Neils Giffey, all of whom played significant roles in the Huskies' 32-9 season and 11-0 March run to the Big East and NCAA Tournament titles. UConn is likely to be ranked among the top four or five teams in the country when the first polls come out. The Huskies' begin their regular season vs. Columbia at Gampel Pavilion on Nov. 11.